1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable supporting device and is particularly designed to support a cable spanning between a slide door of a vehicle and a vehicle body in such a manner as to be able to follow the cable when the cable changes its angle in vertical, transverse and oblique directions as the slide door is opened and closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical parts such as a power window and a door lock are installed in a door of an automotive vehicle, and a cable (door harness) for constantly feeding power is connected with these electrical parts. The cable is arranged to extend toward the vehicle body and connected with a power-supply side cable in the vehicle body.
If the door is a slide door, it may move in vertical direction normal to a sliding direction and transverse direction at the time of being closed and opened. Thus, the angle of the cable spanning between the slide door and the vehicle body changes with respect to transverse and vertical directions.
The cable spanning between the slide door and the vehicle body is fixed to and supported on the vehicle body, but it is necessary to provide a mechanism capable of following the angular change of the cable in vertical, transverse and oblique directions in the supporting device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967 proposes a device shown in FIG. 7 as a cable supporting device of this type. In this device, a cable spanning between a vehicle body and a slide door is covered by a cable guide 2 formed by connecting a plurality of link members 1, one end of the cable guide 2 is connected with a supporting member 3 fixed to the vehicle body and the cable inserted through the cable guide 2 is passed through the supporting member 3.
The supporting member 3 and the link member 1a at the leading end of the cable guide 2 are rotatably connected via a connection pin P1 extending in horizontal direction, so that the link member 1a is swingably connected with the supporting member 3 in vertical direction so as to follow the angular change of the cable in vertical direction. On the other hand, the adjacent link members 1 of the cable guide 2 are connected rotatably in transverse direction by connection pins P2 extending in vertical direction so as to be able to follow the angular change of the cable in transverse direction.
Specifically, by setting the mounting direction of the pins P2 connecting the link members 1 of the cable guide 2 and that of the pin P1 connecting the link member 1a of the cable guide 2 at the leading end of the cable guide and the supporting member 3 orthogonal to each other, a mechanism can follow the angular change of the cable in vertical and transverse directions.
In the cable supporting device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967, an amount of vertical displacement is restricted to a vertical angular range in which the link member 1a at the leading end of the cable guide 2 can rotate about the pin P1 and an amount of transverse displacement is restricted to a transverse angular range in which the link members 1 of the cable guide 2 can rotate about the pins P2. Further, the construction of U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967 cannot cope with inclining movements in oblique directions.
An amount of vertical angular change of a slide door of an automotive vehicle differs depending on the vehicle type. Further, the slide door is constructed to obliquely move with respect to vertical direction as being slid from a closed state to an open state. This angle of inclination also differs depending on the vehicle type. Further, the mounting position and mounting angle of the cable supporting device on the vehicle also differ.
If the vertical rotational angular range is restricted as in patent document 1, it takes time to consider the mounting position and mounting angle of the cable supporting device for each vehicle type. If the vertical displacement of the cable is large or the angle of inclination thereof is large, the cable itself is twisted in the construction of U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967. However, such a displacement or inclination may not be absorbed in some cases.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967, the link member 1a at the leading end of the cable guide 2 is swingably connected with the cable supporting member 3 in vertical direction, and the link members 1 successively connected with the vertically swingable link member 1a in forward and backward directions are swingably connected in transverse direction. In other words, the cable passing through the link member 1a at the leading end is swung in vertical direction, but cannot be swung in transverse direction, and a transverse swinging movement is caused by the link member 1 connected with the link member 1a and the following link members 1. Therefore, the cable can make no transverse swinging movement at a position proximate to the cable supporting member 3, thereby being twisted in the link members.
Further, since the connecting direction of the vertically swingable link member 1a at the leading end with the supporting member 3 by the pin and that of the transversely swingable link members by the pins differ in U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967, all the link members cannot have the same shape and the link member 1a at the leading end needs to be separately provided. This increases the number of parts and, since the link member 1a at the leading end is essential, there is a problem of requiring a larger arrangement space.
The present invention was developed to solve the above problems of U.S. Pat. No. 6,996,967 and an object thereof is to provide a cable supporting device capable of coping with amounts of vertical and transverse angular changes of a cable despite their magnitudes, coping with angular changes of the cable in oblique directions and, hence, sufficiently coping with angular changes of the cable even if the mounting position and mounting angle thereof on a vehicle slightly differ.